Month: April 2014

Anzac Day has long been an important day in the calendar of both Australia and New Zealand as we remember the lives given for our freedom at Anzac Cove during World War I. Anzac Day, April 25 is a day of such significance in our history and culture, both our countries have national public holidays. The main event of the day is the formal Dawn ceremony and parade of Veterans, the sounding of the Last Post and the minute of silence ended with ‘Lest We Forget’ in services across the nation.

As Australasian Close To My Heart consultants we wanted to showcase the Australasian Stamp Sets that Close To My Heart have made for us. The projects we share with you today are shared in the spirit of both gratitude and national pride.

If you have come from Lauren Moore’s blog – CTMH Craftings then you are in the right place. If you landed here by accident, no problem, please join in by following the link at the end of this post.

For this blog hop I have again made some more cards using the New Zealand stamp set that Close to My Heart made especially for us. Here is the full set and the images and sentiments are great for other uses as well.

The kiwi is our national bird and holds a very special place in our ‘kiwi’ hearts. The silver fern is also a national icon and is worn by all our national sportsmen and women when representing New Zealand. The bottom card encapsulates both national icons. The Timberline paper also reflects the rustic feel of our settler background.

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This week I have decided to do something quite different. I have seen a lot of other consultants doing these pennant frames and thought I would give it a go myself. Close to My Heart do not just cater for card making and scrapbooking but they also provide a range of great products to decorate and add to your home decor. I have also entered this project in the Heart2Heart Cricut Challenge.

This is the pennant frame and I have cut out the paper from the Ariana paper pack using my Artbooking Cricut cartridge. I have made the daisy flower from the Art Philosophy and Artiste cartridges following Cathy Derouche’s instructions on YouTube. For my version of the daisy I have started with White Daisy cardstock and sponged the edges with Buttercup ink and the centre has been completely sponged with Buttercup ink to give a softer effect than using Buttercup cardstock. The butterfly is from the Artbooking cartridge and the scalloped edging is from the Art Philosophy cartridge. As it is Mother’s Day coming up next month I thought that it would be nice to turn this into a silhouette picture and use the fabulous Mother’s Day stamp set and make a lovely gift for a child to give to their mother.

Here are some close ups of the frame:

Of course I had to add some bling to this very feminine frame. I have used the Sparkles Flourish and the clear Sparkles to add some shine.

For something completely different I have created a masculine looking pennant frame for someone to put their own photo in it. The feedback that I have been getting from the public is that there is not enough out there for the men and boys in our life. So I have done a simple blue pennant with a nautical theme. My son is mad on boats and I probably had him in mind when I made this, and the Ariana blue stripe does have a masculine, nautical feel to it.

I have used the dimensional elements that came with the Tommy WOTG (now retired) and Cricut cartridget sets and distressed them with Desert Sand ink before inking the sentiments and shapes with Outdoor Denim. I have used the now retired Tommy WOTG stamp set as well as the Sail Away stamp set which is still available. I have used the zip strip from the Tommy paper packet (also retired) which blended in well with the distressed embellishments.

As you can see I have used papers from the Ariana paper packet and created two very different pennants which shows how versatile this pack is. I think it is my favourite out of all the new papers.

I am really impressed at how far one paper packet has gone. Apart from using a couple of extra base sheets for an extra double layout I have done 3 double layouts, two pennant frames and at least 10 cards with the one pack. This is really great value at NZ$17.

For more information about the 3D and decor products from CTMH click here. There is lots of different products for all your creative needs.

I hope everyone has a great Easter.

Happy Crafting

Patricia

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This week I have been busy making some Easter cards to sell at Craft Hutt and at a Craft Fair I am going to on Good Friday at the Cossie Club in Upper Hutt. I have used some Skylark and Chantilly papers as well as the new Free to Be Me papers from this months Constant Campaign celebrating National Scrapbooking month. This special paper pack includes beautiful textured cardstock, vellum and gorgeous papers and is normally valued at $19. If you spend $75 in one order then you can purchase this pack for just $5.

For this card I have used the teal shimmer trim to mix with the gorgeous gold spotted vellum. With the vellum I used adhesive under the gold spots to make sure it did not show up on the outside. You can just see the beautiful finish to the red cardstock and I have completed the card with the images from the Hoppy Easter stamp set.I love the simplicity of this card. I have just layered the vellum over the red cardstock and teamed it with the red paper from the paper pack. The sentiment is from the hostess gift Some Bunny.

I have used a cut that I made from making a box lid for the label for this card. I never throw anything out and the colour of this (Creme Brulee) cut worked in perfectly and I had a spare white label already cut so this card came together very quickly. The strong vertical paper is cut from one of the patterned papers and it made a great strip with two 0.5 cm strips of the red cardstock on either side. I have used images from both the Some Bunny and Hoppy Easter for this card.

Here again with this card I have teamed the vellum with the red cardstock. I have stamped the flowers from the Hoppy Easter with Black ink and coloured them using the alcohol markers from CTMH and finished them off with some Bitty Sparkles. Finally for this card I have used the Gold Polka Dot washi tape and teamed them up with the paper and cardstock from the pack. Plus I have managed to centre a strip of the gold polka dotted vellum and it looks like I have got some gold brads on each side of the focus image. Again I have stamped the flowers and coloured them in with the alcohol markers and finished off with Bitty Sparkles. I have also added a little extra with some Bakers Twine in Cranberry.

Here are some Easter cards I have done using the Skylark and left over Chantilly papers (NLA).

I have kept this card quite simple and have matched Indian Cornflower Blue cardstock with the same colour on the little girl’s dress. I have stamped the girl on White Daisy cardstock and fussy cut it out and then coloured in with alcohol markers. The images are from the Some Bunny stamp set.

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Easter is not far away now and I went to the supermarket yesterday and the Easter Egg gift boxes were very much the same as what they have been for years and are just advertising for Cadbury. So I decided I would make some boxes using the Artiste cartridge and today I have been very busy and here are some of my results. Sorry about the first photo but there are better photos coming up, but daylight savings has finished and I was running out of light to take photos.

I have used three different cuts from the Artiste cartridge. The first one is on page 73 of the booklet. I have also cut the grass from the Artbooking cartridge and placed it around the base of the box. The cute rabbit in the front is from the Hoppy Easter stamp set and I have coloured it in using the CTMH alcohol markers.

Here is a close up of the rabbit. I have also cut the butterfly out from the Artiste cartridge and added some bling with some CTMH sparkles.

The second box has been cut out using the pattern on page 69. I have mixed and matched the cardstock colours to match the soft toys I purchased to go with the boxes. Inside there is also an Easter Egg. I am still using up my Chantilly papers (which are no longer available unfortunately) and these went perfectly with the boxes and colour scheme. The ribbon has been cut using the pattern on page 56 and the flower is also cut out from page 33 and finished off with pink sparkle gems and green epoxy bubbles. The sentiment is from the Hoppy Easter stamp set and the tag is from Holiday Tags.

Finally I love these cute little boxes from page 73 of the booklet. There is also a flower box for something different. I have also cut the grass from the Artbooking cartridge and put it around the base of the box and I then put the sentiment on the box. These are so cute and they are big enough to fit an Easter egg inside.

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Hello and welcome to my first entry for The Paper Trail Blog hop. I feel very honoured to have been asked to join in this very special blog hop – so a big thank you to Betsy Gully for the invitation.

If you have come from Tracey’s blog, The Paper Crafting Princess you are in the right place and if you have just popped in to visit then feel free to have a good browse. The blog hop is circular so once you have visited everyone you will end up where you have started.

This was so easy to do and once again I have mixed the contrasts of colours and used the Ariana Complements to complete the page. I love how the glasses have made a cute frame for the photo mat. Here is a close up of the mat.

My last layout ended up being a more masculine layout using the blues and just a touch of Ariana Coral from the paper packet and some accents from the Outdoor Denim ribbon. Once again I have used the Make It From Your Heart Volume 1 book for the idea. I have distressed all the edges with Cashmere ink – my new favourite distressing colour. Again I have used the Ariana complements to finish off the layouts. I have used the Art Philosophy cartridge to cut the banners out and have yet to decide what to put on the fronts.

I also managed to get some cards made and here are a few of what I have done:

CTMH Ariana card using Artbooking cartridge and the Sweet and Lovely Cricut bundle stamp set and finished with a ribbon bow from the Ariana Assortments

CTMH Ariana card using the Artbooking cartridge and the Sweet and Lovely stamp set from the Cricut bundle and the Holiday Tags stamp set and the Art Philosophy cartridge. I have stamped the lovely doily image with Outdoor Denim on Ariana Coral cardstock. I have popped up the sentiment with 3D foam tape. All finished off with a ribbon bow from the Ariana assortments.CTMH Ariana card made using the Artbooking cartridge to cut the butterfly and the Holidays Tag stamp set using the Art Philosophy cartridge. I have used Sorbet ink and Outdoor Denim for the sentiment. Finished with a ribbon bow from the Ariana assortments.CTMH Ariana card inspired by the recipe from the Make It From Your Heart book Volume 1 page 42. I have used the Art Philosophy cartridge to cut the stamp shapes and the alphabet is from the You Are My Happy stamp set. Finished off with Outdoor Denim bakers Twine, blue epoxy bubbles and a clear flower.CTMH Ariana card using the Art Philosophy cartridge, Holidays Tag stamp set, Sorbet and Outdoor Denim inks, Stitch Wonder stamp set and finished off with a ribbon bow from the Ariana assortments.CTMH Ariana card inspired by the recipe from the Made It From Your Heart Volume 1 page 45. Finished with a butterfly cut using the Artbooking cartridge and finished off with a lovely ribbon from the Ariana assortments.

I hope you have enjoyed your visit here and seen how very versatile the Ariana paper pack is for both feminine and masculine layouts as well as cards. Now hop on over to Linda’s blog The Paper Taylor to check out her fabulous creations.

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Hello and welcome aboard our Stamp of the month Australasian Close to My Heart Blog Hop. If you have arrived here from Jen’s Creative Classroom, then you are in the right place. If you landed here by accident, no problem, please join in by following the link at the end of this post.

Today, instead of my usual cards, I would like to share with you a mini book which features the April Stamp of the Month Balloon Talk available exclusively throughout April for NZ$29 or for just $5 when you spend $75.

The Balloon Talk stamp set is really great to put little accents on scrapbook layouts and I have used them throughout the mini book. I have teamed up the Balloon Ride Papers with the Balloon Talk stamp set for the mini album. I wasn’t sure about this paper range but I have changed my mind as the colours are so gorgeous. I thought the patterns would be appropriate for a travel album.

My Cricut machine has been working overtime but I am so pleased with the outcome as I have never done anything like this before. The Artbooking cartridge makes it so easy and all I had to do was to decide was what colour cardstock and papers I need to make my cuts. Here is a close up of one page that I have put some of the Balloon Talk images on: The “Been There”, “Done That” stamps were really appropriate for this album as well. As this album has been made to sell I have not added photos and I have used the sentiments on the tags of the pages as well as randomly throughout album. As I have said I have used the Balloon Ride paper pack with the titles and photo mats being in Colonial White. The titles have been sponged with Cashmere to help soften them and stand out from the background cardstock or paper.

I do apologise for the quality of the photos but I think my camera needs to be looked at again. I was thinking it was my eyesight but it could be the camera instead.

Balloon Talk is only available until 30th April from your CTMH consultant here. ) I’d love you to leave a comment before heading off to the next stop, Lauren’s Blog, CTMH Craftings. Happy Crafting Patricia